• Press Release

Become a “Heart Hero” This October During National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month

Mount Sinai Health System urges the general public, especially students, to learn lifesaving CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator to reduce sudden cardiac death rates.

  • (September 30, 2014)

The Mount Sinai Health System will host five free Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Fairs this October in honor of National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month to increase the community's knowledge about what sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is and save more lives from it by teaching lifesaving hands-only CPR, and how to properly use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Mount Sinai invites local school students and community members to attend its SCA Awareness Fairs. Attendees will be greeted by special costumed superhero characters, while being educated by Mount Sinai Health System's every day "Heart Hero" cardiologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, emergency medicine experts, and other staffers, who will demonstrate hands-only CPR and automated external defibrillator technology. In addition, event attendees will be able to explore the inside of a Mount Sinai ambulance.

"Mount Sinai's Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Fairs are very important to show adults and school children alike how they too can be a 'Heart Hero' in their community during an emergency if they are armed with the proper knowledge and skills," says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Vice President of Cardiac Services for the Mount Sinai Health System.

"We all have the potential power to be a 'Heart Hero' in our communities. Knowing how to perform CPR or how to use an automatic defibrillator can help prevent the sudden cardiac death of a young athlete on the game field or an adult whose heart suddenly stops beating," says Conor Barrett, MD, Director of the Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at Mount Sinai St. Luke's.

SCA is when a person's heart abruptly stops beating. It can occur due to a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm, a genetic predisposition, or for no explained reason. Each year, more than 350,000 adults and children die unexpectedly from SCA.

"It is shown if within minutes CPR or and AED is used to resuscitate a person who experiences sudden cardiac arrest it may help save their life," says Jacqueline Danik, MD, Associate Director of Cardiovascular Research and Attending Physician in the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke's.

This October's upcoming Mount Sinai Sudden Cardiac Awareness Fairs hosted between 10:00am-2:00pm are at:

  • Mount Sinai St. Luke's – Friday, October 3rd
    Location: 1111 Amsterdam Avenue, Muhlenberg Conference Center, 4th Floor
    Note: Enter at the Chapel entrance on 113th Street, between Amsterdam Ave. and Morningside Drive
  • The Mount Sinai Hospital– Friday, October 3rd
    Location: 1468 Madison Avenue, Guggenheim Pavilion, Lobby Atrium
  • Mount Sinai Beth Israel – Friday, October 10th
    Location: 10 Union Square, Phillips Ambulatory Care Center (PACC), 2nd Floor
  • Mount Sinai Roosevelt– Friday, October 17th
    Location: 1000 10th Avenue, Main Lobby
  • Mount Sinai Beth Israel Brooklyn– Friday, October 24th
    Location: 3201 Kings Highway, Main Lobby

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Related Articles
dept of cardiovascular surgery
spacesamples
fuster
leadership
Gregg Stone, MD,FACC, FSCAI
pinney
Newsroom image
fustercitycouncil
CAD study
sharma
smithstudy